Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T05:38:44.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Upper Band-Better Bed sequence (Lower Coal Measures, Westphalian A) in the central and south Pennine area of England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

J. I. Chisholm
J. I. Chisholm
Affiliation:
20 Belmont Road, Juniper Green, Edinburgh EH14 5DY, Scotland, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An analysis of outcrop and borehole information relating to the strata between the Upper Band and Better Bed coals of the central and south Pennines shows that two lithological facies can be recognized within a cyclic sequence of mudstones, siltstones and sandstones. In one facies, sandstones and siltstones contain abundant mica, and argillaceous beds are neutral grey in colour. Petrographically the sandstones are feldspathic but contain little lithic material other than multigrain quartz. In the other facies, mica is much less common, argillaceous beds are greenish grey, and sandstones and siltstones contain a notable proportion of chloritic lithoclasts. The sediments of both facies were deposited in lower delta plain/shallow-water delta environments, and palaeocurrent measurements show that the micaceous facies was supplied from the north or east while the green facies came in from the west.

Three named divisions of the sequence are based on recognition of the two facies types. They correspond roughly with three upward-coarsening transgressive–regressive sedimentary cycles of presumed eustatic origin. In the lowest part of the succession (Shibden division) the main clastic input was of the micaceous type. Sandstones are found only in the north of the basin, where they form a series of superimposed delta-front bodies. Mudstones were deposited elsewhere, in a large body of open water which, although linked to the sea, was generally of lowered salinity. The restriction of the delta-front sandstones to the same geographical area over a long period of time is attributed to differential subsidence of the basin across deep-seated structures.

The sediments of the overlying Brighouse division belong to the green facies, and the source of the elastics lay to the west. After an initial period of mudstone deposition in an extensive, apparently non-marine, body of open water, fluviodeltaic sand and silt spread across the entire area. There is no obvious control of sandstone distribution by basement structures.

The succeeding Bradley Wood division includes sediments of both micaceous and green facies. A lobe of medium-grained micaceous sandstone around Sheffield (Thurlstone Channel) represents a fluvial incursion from the east and a linear body of fine-grained green-facies sandstone south of Chesterfield (Bole Hill Channel) represents a similar incursion from the west. Elsewhere, small units of finer-grained elastics are probably deltaic deposits linked to the same sources. The location of the channel sand-bodies suggests control by deep-seated fractures.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 127 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 55 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aitkenhead, N., Chisholm, J. I. & Stevenson, I. P. 1985. Geology of the country around Buxton, Leek and Bakewell. Memoirs of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 111.Google Scholar
Anon. 1983. North American Stratigraphic Code. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 67, 841–75.Google Scholar
Baynes-Smith, W. 1950. A Lower Coal Measure exposure in central Leeds. Transactions, Leeds Geological Association 61, 135–40.Google Scholar
Besly, B. M. & Kelling, G. (eds) 1988. Sedimentation in a Synorogenic Basin Complex: the Upper Carboniferous of Northwest Europe. 276 pp. Glasgow and London: Blackie.Google Scholar
Bristow, C. S. 1988. Controls on sedimentation in the Rough Rock Group (Namurian) from the Pennine Basin of northern England. In Sedimentation in a Synorogenic Basin Complex: the Upper Carboniferous of Northwest Europe (ed. Besly, B. M. and Kelling, G.), pp. 114–31. Glasgow, London: Blackie.Google Scholar
Calver, M. A. 1956. Die stratigraphische Verbreitung der nicht-marinen Muscheln in den penninischen Kohlenfeldem Englands. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft 107, 26–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calver, M. A. 1968. Distribution of Westphalian marine faunas in northern England and adjoining areas. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 37, 1–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calver, M. A. 1969. Westphalian of Britain. Compte Rendu 6c Congrès International de Stratigraphic et du Géologie du Carbonifère, Sheffield 1967 1, 233–54.Google Scholar
Chisholm, J. I. 1983. A new section around the Amaliae (Tonge's) Marine Band near Manchester England. Geological Journal 18, 115–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chisholm, J. I. 1988. Further comment on correlation of sandstones at Billinge Beacon. Geological Journal 23, 273.Google Scholar
Chisholm, J. I., Aitkenhead, N. & Charsley, T. J. 1988. Geology of the country around Ashbourne and Cheadle. Memoirs of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 124.Google Scholar
Collinson, J. D. 1968. Deltaic sedimentation units in the Upper Carboniferous of northern England. Sedimentology 10, 233–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collinson, J. D. 1988. Controls on Namurian sedimentation in the Central Province basins of northern England. In Sedimentation in a Synorogenic Basin Complex: the Upper Carboniferous of Northwest Europe (ed. Besly, B. M. and Kelling, G.), pp. 85–101. Glasgow, London: Blackie.Google Scholar
Collinson, J. D. & Banks, N. L. 1975. The Haslingden Flags (Namurian G1) of south-east Lancashire: barfinger sands in the Pennine Basin. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 40, 431–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downing, R. A. & Howirr, F. 1969. Saline ground-waters in the Carboniferous rocks of the English East Midlands in relation to the geology. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology 1, 241–69.Google Scholar
Eagar, R. M. C. 1954. New species of Anthracosiidae in the Lower Coal Measures of the Pennine region. Memoirs and Proceedings, Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society 95, 40–65.Google Scholar
Eagar, R. M. C. 1956. Additions to the non-marine fauna of the Lower Coal Measures of the North-Midlands coalfields. Liverpool and Manchester Geological Journal 1, 328–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagar, R. M. C. 1971. A new section in the Lower Coal Measures (Westphalian A) of Up Holland, near Wigan, Lancashire. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 82, 71–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagar, R. M. C., Baines, J. G., Collinson, J. D., Hardy, P. G., Okolo, S. A. & Pollard, J. E. 1985. Trace fossil assemblages and their occurrence in Silesian (Mid-Carboniferous) deltaic sediments of the Central Pennine Basin, England. In Biogenic Structures: Their Use in Interpreting Depositional Systems (ed. Curran, H. A.), pp. 99–149. Special Publication, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists no. 35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Earp, J. R., Magraw, D., Poole, E. G., Land, D. H. & Whiteman, A. J. 1961. Geology of the country around Clitheroe and Nelson. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 68.Google Scholar
Eden, R. A. 1954. The Coal Measures of the Anthraconaia lenisulcata Zone in the East Midlands Coalfield. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Great Britain 5, 81–106.Google Scholar
Edwards, W. N. 1967. Geology of the country around Ollerton. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 113.Google Scholar
Evans, W. B., Wilson, A. A., Taylor, B. J. & Price, D. 1968. Geology of the country around Macclesfield, Congleton, Crewe and Middlewich. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 110.Google Scholar
Falcon, N. L. & Kent, P. E. 1960. Geological results of petroleum exploration in Britain 1945–1957. Geological Society of London, Memoir No. 2.Google Scholar
Fielding, C. R. 1984. A coal depositional model for the Durham Coal Measures of NE England. Journal of the Geological Society of London 141, 919–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frost, D. V. & Smart, J. G. O. 1979. Geology of the country north of Derby. Memoir, Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 125.Google Scholar
Gilligan, A. 1920. The petrography of the Millstone Grit of Yorkshire. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 75, 251–94.Google Scholar
Godwin, C. G. 1960. Note on the Upper Band Marine Band. Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey of Great Britain for 1959, p. 33.Google Scholar
Godwin, C. G. 1984. Mining in the Elland Flags: a forgotten Yorkshire industry. Report of the British Geological Survey, No. 84/4.Google Scholar
Godwin, C. G. & Calver, M. A. 1974. A review of the Coal Measures (Westphalian) of Leeds. Journal of Earth Sciences, Leeds Geological Association 8 (3), 409–31.Google Scholar
Guion, P. D. & Fielding, C. R. 1988. Westphalian A and B sedimentation in the Pennine Basin, U.K In Sedimentation in a Synorogenic Basin Complex: the Upper Carboniferous of Northwest Europe (ed. Besly, B. M. and Kelling, G.), pp. 153–77. Glasgow, London: Blackie.Google Scholar
Hawkins, P. J. 1978. Relationship between diagenesis, porosity reduction, and oil emplacement in late Carboniferous sandstone reservoirs, Bothamsall Oilfield E. Midlands. Journal of the Geological Society of London 135, 7–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heckel, P. H. 1986. Sea-level curve for Pennsylvanian eustatic marine transgressive-regressive depositional cycles along midcontinent outcrop belt, North America. Geology 14, 330–4.Google Scholar
Howitt, F. & Brunstrom, R. G. W. 1966. The continuation of the East Midlands Coal Measures into Lincolnshire. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 35, 549–64.Google Scholar
Lee, A. G. 1988. Carboniferous basin configuration of central and northern England modelled using gravity data. In Sedimentation in a Synorogenic Basin Complex: the Upper Carboniferous of Northwest Europe (ed. Besly, B. M. and Kelling, G.), pp. 69–84. Glasgow, London: Blackie.Google Scholar
Leeder, M. R. & McMahon, A. H. 1988. Upper Carboniferous (Silesian) basin subsidence in northern Britain. In Sedimentation in a Synorogenic Basin Complex: the Upper Carboniferous of Northwest Europe (ed. Besly, B. M. and Kelling, G.), pp. 43–52. Glasgow, London: Blackie.Google Scholar
Magraw, D. 1957. New boreholes into the Lower Coal Measures below the Arley Mine of Lancashire and adjacent areas. Bulletin, Geological Survey of Great Britain, No. 13, pp. 14–38.Google Scholar
Melville, R. V. 1947. The non-marine lamellibranchs of the North Staffordshire coalfield. Annals and Magazine of Natural History Series 11, 13, 289–337.Google Scholar
Price, D., Wright, W. B., Jones, R. C. B., Tonks, L. H. & Whitehead, T. H. 1963. Geology of the country around Preston. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 75.Google Scholar
Ramsbottom, W. H. C. 1979. Rates of transgression and regression in the Carboniferous of NW Europe. Journal of the Geological Society of London 136, 147–53.Google Scholar
Ramsbottom, W. H. C., Calver, M. A., Eagar, R. M. C., Hodson, F., Holliday, D. W., Stubblefield, C. J. & Wilson, R. B. 1978. A correlation of Silesian rocks in the British Isles. Geological Society of London, Special Report No. 10, 82 pp.Google Scholar
Shackleton, J. S. 1962. Cross-strata from the Rough Rock (Millstone Grit Series) in the Pennines. Geological Journal 3, 109–18.Google Scholar
Smith, E. G., Rhys, G. H. & Eden, R. A. 1967. Geology of the country around Chesterfield, Matlock and Mansfield. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 112.Google Scholar
Smith, E. G., Rhys, G. H. & Goossens, R. F. 1973. Geology of the country around East Retford, Worksop and Gainsborough. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 101.Google Scholar
Stephens, J. V., Mitchell, G. H. & Edwards, W. 1953. Geology of the country between Bradford and Skipton. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 69.Google Scholar
Stubblefield, C. J. & Trotter, F. M. 1957. Divisions of the Coal Measures on Geological Survey maps of England and Wales. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, No. 13, pp. 1–5.Google Scholar
Taylor, B. J., Price, R. H. & Trotter, F. M. 1963. Geology of the country around Stockport and Knutsford. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 98.Google Scholar
Tonks, L. H., Jones, R. C. B., Lloyd, W. & Sherlock, R. L. 1931. The Geology of Manchester and the south-east Lancashire Coalfield. Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Sheet 85.Google Scholar
Walker, R. G. 1966. Shale Grit and Grindslow Shales: transition from turbidite to shallow water sediments in the Upper Carboniferous of northern England. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 36, 90–114.Google Scholar
Walton, J., 1932. Non-marine lamellibranchs between the Better Bed Coal and the Elland Flags. The Naturalist 1932, 121–2.Google Scholar
Wray, D. A. 1929. The Carboniferous succession in the Central Pennine area. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 21, 228–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wray, D. A. & Trueman, A. E. 1934. The fauna of the Lower Coal Measures in West Yorkshire. Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey of Great Britain for 1933. Part 2, pp. 37–50.Google Scholar